MICHAEL made at least a few very interesting records... this is when record people were buzzing 'bout MICHAEL... Thriller was down the road and unexpected, but Off The Wall was hot first. Even what's dated about it is charming.

There's a lot to like about Facelift, but it's sort of the primordial stew that was later perfected in Dirt. Alice in Chains has always been associated with the grunge wave, but they've always been more metal than anything. Dirt is where they really cemented their sound into solid pop songs (I'm using "pop" as synonymous with well constructed) with sinister leanings.

It could be argued that they became more accomplished musicians and song-writers in their later releases, but this record is the first chance they got to really strut their stuff. In many non-musical ways it's similar to Faith No More's "Angel Dust." Both powerhouse albums in which the bands really got to shoot for the stands and succeeded.

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Every dead body that is not exterminated becomes one of them. It gets up and kills. The people it kills, get up and kill.

There's a lot to like about Facelift, but it's sort of the primordial stew that was later perfected in Dirt. Alice in Chains has always been associated with the grunge wave, but they've always been more metal than anything. Dirt is where they really cemented their sound into solid pop songs (I'm using "pop" as synonymous with well constructed) with sinister leanings.

It could be argued that they became more accomplished musicians and song-writers in their later releases, but this record is the first chance they got to really strut their stuff. In many non-musical ways it's similar to Faith No More's "Angel Dust." Both powerhouse albums in which the bands really got to shoot for the stands and succeeded.

Yeah, Dirt is far and away my favorite AIC album. Everything about it is a standout to me, from writing to playing to production. It is also very dense in the amount of quality material on it. It's their heaviest album too, not a single acoustic instrument on it if I remember. It's their only album where I won't skip tracks on.

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I don't always talk about bad movies, but when I do, I prefer badmovies.org

Talk Talk's material has always been excellent - they never put out a bad album. But when they moved away form their earlier synthpop sound and began experimenting musically, they really hit their stride. The album Spirit of Eden was the beginning of their transformation into post rock, but when they released Laughing Stock they absolutely NAILED it! A lot of musicians say this is one of the best albums of all time, and it's easy to see why. Brilliant beyond words.

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"Nothin' out there but God's little creatures - more scared of you than you are of them" - Warren, "Just Before Dawn"

Some here may know I'm a big Elvis Costello fan. Picking a best album is pretty much an impossibility. If I had the screws put to me and told I could only listen to one EC album for the rest of my life? Still damn-near impossible, but I guess I would go with:

Tom Waits is the same deal. If love the different stages in his career almost equally for different reasons, but if I had to pick one album:

Incidentally, many people think that Tom Waits is the man on the cover, but the picture is actually one taken by Swedish photographer Anders Petersen in the 60's.

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I don't always talk about bad movies, but when I do, I prefer badmovies.org

I seriously doubt there are any terrible ELVIS PRESLEY records, but I think ELVIS is the best. It's his second album and it's tough to pass over the first Elvis Presley which is landmark... but... I have to give it to ELVIS PRESLEY ELVIS

Follow The Leader, by KoRn. Korn had released two albums previously, and both combined elements of hard rock, heavy metal, grunge, and rap. This album was a landmark for them, combining all three in such a way, it helped usher in an era of "Nu-Metal", which really helped bring back heavy metal to the MTV generation of the '90s, at a time when all they had was teenybopper pop and rap. Love them or not, they helped launch groups like Limp Bizkit, Staind, Papa Roach, Linkin Park, etc. Millions of teens related to it, each song on the album was great, and I don't think any album since this one has sold as many copies (Follow the Leader sold around 5 Million in the US, back when Napster and online downloading was just starting.) Each Korn album since has seen a slight decline in quality. Plus, it scored a bunch of nominations at various awards ceremonies, winning quite a few.

London Calling by The Clash.

I don't even know where to start with this one. I'd put it up there as one of the top ten best rock albums of all-time, honestly.

I love this band and this album in particular. SALUTATIONS... is the soundtrack to a youth rebellion/uprising that disappointingly never took place. Every track on this album makes me want to punch someone.

R.I.P. Lux Interior.. I remember seeing them at the now defunct Punk Mecca CBGB's way back in the 70's.. what a great time... The version of 'Surfing Bird' they did made one throb in strobe light blue, those were the days. My pick for their best was their 'Gravest Hits' album.

I'll never forget this album, it was playing 'Love Reign On Me' on my cassette player the day I kissed my first girlfriend under the boardwalk at Coney Island, Brooklyn, NYC one rainly afternoon in the fall of '76 in the rain....and the same song was on my car radio, the day I ran into the Nursing home and was told my mother was dead and I ran up the stairs and found her gone... lot of emotion with this album.